Joel Turrill (February 22, 1794 – December 28, 1859) was a judge, politician, and diplomat from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. From 1833 to 1837, he served two terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Life

Turrill was born February 22, 1794, in

Shoreham, Vermont Shoreham is a New England town, town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,260 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Shoreham is located in western Addison County along the shore of Lake Champlain. T ...

, and attended the common school. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1816. He studied law in

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a City (New York), city in Orange County, New York, United States. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. ...

and later moved to

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oswego is situated at the mouth of the Oswego River (New York), Osw ...

, to practice after being

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1819. He served as Justice of the Peace, County judge 1828-1833, and member of the State assembly in 1831. Turrill was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1837. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1836. He served as district attorney for Oswego County 1838-1840, and surrogate of Oswego County in 1843. He was appointed United States

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

to the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian:

ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi Latin epsilon or open E (majuscule: Ɛ, minuscule: ɛ) is a letter of the extended Latin alphabet, based on the lowercase of the Greek letter epsilon (ε). It was introduced in the 16th century by Gian Giorgio Trissino to represent the pronunc ...

, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...

1845-1850. He died in

on December 28, 1859 and was interred in Riverside Cemetery.

Personal life

Turrill married Mary Sullivan Hubbard on Dec. 21, 1830 in Champion, New York. They had four children: William, Elizabeth Douglas, Mary Hubbard and Frederick. The older daughter, Elizabeth Douglas (Turrill) Van Denburgh, wrote an account of the family's voyage in 1845 and 1846 to the "Sandwich Islands" when her father was appointed U.S. Consul-General to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turrill, Joel 1794 births 1859 deaths Middlebury College alumni Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Oswego County district attorneys People from Shoreham, Vermont 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives